Dr. J. Paul DittmannDittmann is Managing Director of the Supply Chain and Demand Management/Forecasting Forums at the University of Tennessee.  He is also Director of the Executive in Residence Program. In addition, he teaches supply chain courses in the business school, and lectures in the executive education programs.

Dr. Dittmann comes to the University of Tennessee after a thirty two year career in industry.  He has held Fortune 150 positions, such as Vice President, Logistics for North America, Vice President Global Logistics Systems, and most recently served as Vice President, Supply Chain Strategy, Projects, and Systems for the Whirlpool Corporation.  

Dr. Dittmann also manages many of the special projects done by the department for companies including the supply chain audits. In managing the audits, and other projects, he has consulted for over 50 corporations including Wal-Mart, Tyco, Honeywell, Cummins, Cooper Tire, Johnson & Johnson, Estee Lauder, Nissan, Lockheed Martin, Office Max, Sony, and GlaxoSmithKline. He also has taught numerous public seminars in the areas of lean manufacturing, global business, and supply chain excellence, and has spoken at many conferences on these and other topics.  

He is a certified instructor for the Project Management Institute, offering seminars around the United States in the areas of global project management and change management.  He has also consulted with a number of companies in these areas.

He co-authored a recent Harvard Business Review article: Are You the Weakest Link in Your Supply Chain? He co-authored a book, published by Harvard Business Publishing: The New Supply Chain Agenda.

He is also a member of the University of Missouri Industrial Engineering Hall of Fame.

Dr. J. Paul Dittmann